What questions should I ask a gold buyer before sending anything?

Why ask before you post, not after?

Once a parcel has gone, the practical balance of the transaction changes. Your items are in someone else’s building, and your options narrow to accepting, declining and waiting for a return, or complaining. Every question on this page is easy to ask while the gold is still in your drawer and awkward to ask afterwards, which is exactly why the asking should happen first. The answers to all of them, in our case, are published before you request a prepaid label.

There is a second reason to ask, and it is the better one. The answers matter, but the manner of answering matters almost as much. A reputable buyer answers all of these questions without friction. A buyer who goes vague, changes the subject to how high gold prices are, or leans on you to “just send it in and see”, has told you what you needed to know at a cost of one message. The full list of structural warning signs is in red flags when choosing a postal gold buyer; this page is the conversational version you use before any of that becomes relevant.

The ten questions, ready to copy and paste

Send these through the buyer’s confirmed contact route, such as WhatsApp or email. You do not need to ask them all in one go, and you do not need to soften them. They are ordinary due-diligence questions about a transaction involving your property.

• 1. How do you test my gold, and will the method be named on the offer?
• 2. Will I get a written, itemised offer before I have to decide anything?
• 3. Is anything melted, processed or removed from its setting before I accept?
• 4. If I decline, what does the return cost, and is it tracked and signed for?
• 5. How long does the offer stay open, and what happens if I take a day to think?
• 6. How is payment made, and how quickly after I accept?
• 7. What is your registered company name and company number?
• 8. Which postal service should I use, and what cover applies to my parcel?
• 9. What happens if the parcel is lost or damaged in the post?
• 10. Where can I read your reviews, including the critical ones?

The sections below take the questions in groups, with what a good answer sounds like against what should make you stop. None of this requires expertise on your side. You are not judging the gold; you are judging the answers.

Turn general answers into an agreement about your parcel

A published answer describes the usual service. Your parcel may introduce a qualification: a stone that must remain in its setting, a piece you only want assessed, or items owned by two people. Mention the relevant difference before posting and ask whether the ordinary process can accommodate it. Do not assume that a general assurance silently incorporates an exception the buyer has never been told about.

Keep the request focused. Instead of asking whether everything is safe, ask whether a particular ring will remain intact during assessment and whether the proposed method needs any surface preparation. Instead of asking whether the price is fair, ask which items and components the offer will include. Specific questions produce answers that can be checked against what later happens.

If a buyer cannot assess an item within your restrictions, that is useful information. You can retain it or choose another assessment route. The purpose of the questions is not to persuade a business to promise something its process cannot deliver. It is to establish whether the proposed service and your instructions fit before the item changes hands.

Ask who can give instructions when more than one person is involved

A helper may be able to pack a parcel or forward a message without being entitled to accept an offer. Say who owns the items and who will make the decision. Where there are several owners, an estate or an attorney involved, resolve the authority to sell before discussing the payment. A convenient contact person is not automatically the person authorised to commit everyone else.

Ask what the buyer needs to establish that authority and how it should be supplied. Avoid sending an entire file of personal documents simply because you are unsure which page matters. The business should be able to explain its request, but you should also verify the recipient before providing sensitive material. If you cannot establish authority, keep the proposed sale paused while the appropriate person or adviser resolves it.

For a mixed parcel, agree how each owner’s items will be identified in the offer and instructions. A single total might be easy to read but insufficient for deciding which owner accepted which items. Keep the practical record aligned with the ownership rather than trying to reconstruct the division after payment.

Ask how partial decisions will be recorded

You may want to sell the broken chain but keep the ring. Ask whether the buyer can separate the offer and how you should identify the accepted and declined items. A description such as the smaller ring can become ambiguous when two similar pieces are present. Use the identifiers that appear on the offer and ask for clarification if the list does not distinguish them.

Check the financial effect of a partial acceptance before agreeing. Does the quoted total assume the entire lot, and would any stated charge or condition change if only part is sold? This is a request for the actual terms, not an assumption that every buyer uses a minimum lot size or a fee. Knowing the answer prevents an apparently simple selection from becoming a later disagreement.

Finally, ask how the retained items will be returned and how you will know which pieces were included in the payment. The written record should support both outcomes: the sale of specified items and the return of the rest. If you remain uncertain about one object, leaving that item out of the original parcel may be simpler than relying on a later separation.

Ask what happens when an offer expires

An expiry date concerns the quoted figure; it should not be confused with consent to sell. Ask whether an expired offer requires a fresh assessment, a revised figure or simply renewed confirmation. Also ask what happens to the items while no offer is accepted. The answer should explain the process without turning silence into something you did not intend.

If you expect to be away or unavailable, tell the buyer before posting and decide whether to delay the parcel. An arrangement that depends on a rapid reply may not suit your circumstances even if its commercial reasons are understandable. You do not need to argue that an offer must stay open indefinitely; you need a process that gives you a realistic opportunity to decide.

When the figure changes, ask for the new offer to identify what changed. A market movement, a corrected weight and the removal of one item are different reasons. Keep the revised offer with the earlier version so that your acceptance refers to the correct proposal. Avoid replying yes to a conversation containing several totals without identifying the one you mean.

Ask what evidence supports a disputed measurement

If an assessment differs from your expectation, request the relevant measurement rather than a general reassurance. For weight, ask whether the figure is gross or excludes non-metal parts. For purity, ask which part was tested and whether the result is provisional. For a stone, ask whether the service assesses that component at all. Those distinctions make a follow-up question much more productive.

A home-scale reading or a visible stamp can justify asking for an explanation, but neither settles every measurement dispute. A kitchen scale may not resolve a small item accurately, and a surface test does not establish every hidden component. The useful answer explains the basis and limitations of the assessment, including whether further work would require permission.

If you do not understand the explanation, ask for it in ordinary language before deciding. You do not need to learn laboratory methods to sell a chain, but you should be able to understand which property of the item led to the offer. The valuation method provides context for the distinction between weight, purity and the eventual buying figure.

Keep the answers usable after the conversation ends

After a phone discussion, send a short summary of any point that will affect your decision and ask the buyer to confirm or correct it. Include the item, the proposed action and any condition. A concise record is easier to use than relying on a memory that everything would be fine, particularly if another member of staff handles the parcel later.

Save the answers beside the terms and the final offer. Do not treat an early answer as current if you later agree a different service or send additional items. Where the proposal changes, check whether the original answer still applies. This keeps the paperwork connected to the actual transaction instead of becoming a collection of reassuring statements about different situations.

The final check is whether an unanswered question could change your decision to post, accept or decline. If so, resolve it before taking that step. If it is simply background curiosity, it need not delay an otherwise understood arrangement. This prioritisation makes the ten questions useful without turning a straightforward sale into an unnecessary exchange of documents.

Ask about instructions that change after the parcel is prepared

If the destination, label or assessment process changes after you have packed the items, ask why and confirm the replacement instruction through the established business contact. A legitimate change can occur, but it should be understandable. Do not assume that a message with the correct parcel reference is authentic merely because it contains information about your sale.

Check whether the change affects the service or cover you originally selected. A replacement label is not just a different address if it also uses another postal product or account arrangement. Keep the original and revised instructions until the transaction is complete, and use the confirmed version rather than mixing details from both.

If the change introduces a new operation, cost or recipient that would have altered your decision to post, pause while it is clarified. The point of asking questions early is to understand the arrangement you actually use; an important later change deserves the same attention as the original proposal.

How do you test, and is the offer in writing?

Questions 1 to 3 establish the assessment and decision process. Ask which method is used, what it can establish and whether preparation would alter the item. XRF commonly provides non-destructive surface readings but does not prove every hidden component. Other methods may be appropriate if their scope and any alteration are explained and authorised. A written offer should precede the decision it asks you to make; see no-obligation valuations.

What happens if I say no?

Questions 4 and 5 establish whether declining is practical for you. Confirm the return method, any charge and the offer’s validity period before posting. Free tracked returns can be a useful benefit; a clearly disclosed charge is a commercial term to evaluate, not proof of dishonesty. An unexplained charge or unclear acceptance process deserves clarification.

How and when do I get paid?

The test on question 6 is specificity. A good answer names the payment method and states a window that starts from your acceptance, not from the parcel arriving. GoldPaid’s own answer, for comparison, is Faster Payments, with the aim of paying within one working hour of acceptance. You are not looking for that exact number from every buyer; you are looking for a buyer willing to commit to one.

Who am I actually dealing with?

Questions 7 and 10 take two minutes to verify independently, which is the point of asking them. A registered company name and number can be checked free at Companies House: you can see when the company was formed, who runs it, and whether it files what it should. Where the data protection fee is required, check the ICO register; exemptions exist and registration is not an endorsement. Reviews should live on an independent platform where the buyer cannot delete the bad ones, and the responses to critical reviews are usually more informative than the five-star ones.

What cover applies in the post, and what if the parcel is lost?

Questions 8 and 9 are where honest buyers sound cautious and dishonest ones sound confident, which makes them unusually good filter questions. There is no such thing as unconditional cover on a gold parcel. Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed is the standard service for valuables, and Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. A buyer who explains those conditions, and tells you to keep your proof-of-postage receipt, is describing the real world. A buyer who says “everything is fully insured, guaranteed” is describing a world that does not exist.

The full claims process, including timescales and what Royal Mail asks for, is in what happens if Royal Mail loses your gold parcel.

Which answers are not red flags?

Fairness cuts both ways, and some answers that sound disappointing are what honesty sounds like. If a buyer gives you any of the following, treat it as a point in their favour rather than against.

• “The figure from your photos is indicative, not guaranteed.” A preliminary figure may depend on assumptions that inspection must confirm. Weight, purity, hallmarks, stones and the market rate on the day all move the final number, and none of them can be settled from a photograph.
• “We will need photo ID.” Proportionate identity and ownership checks are normal practice for businesses buying precious metals. Being asked for ID is not an obligation to sell.
• “We pay below the spot price.” A scrap offer normally reflects payable content and commercial costs; a whole-piece or collector offer can include other value. The arithmetic is in spot price versus scrap price.
• “This piece might do better at auction.” A buyer who points you away from their own service for a signed, antique or named-maker piece is showing you how they handle the conflict between their interest and yours. That is the single most reassuring answer on this page.

How does GoldPaid answer the same ten questions?

It would be odd to publish a question list and not sit the exam. Testing is by XRF assay, with purity and weight shown on a written, itemised offer, and nothing is melted or processed until that offer is accepted in writing. If you decline, the return is free, tracked and signed for, and there is no valuation fee, so asking costs nothing. Written offers are dated and hold for a limited time; if one lapses before you decide, the figure is re-run at the day’s rate and nobody chases you. We aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance.

On identity: GOLDPAID LTD, checkable on the public register linked above. ICO registration ZC214216 (data controller: Rocco Clayfield, trading as GoldPaid). Reviews are on Trustpilot; it is a young profile, so read the individual reviews rather than the score alone, exactly as you should with any buyer. On postage, we recommend Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, and Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. And if a piece looks like it belongs at auction rather than in a melt, the valuation says so.